This invention relates to telephonic communication devices for transmitting and receiving audio signals and, more particularly, to a telephone terminal or a combined telephone-dictation terminal which is conveniently operated and used. The present invention also relates to a method of programming and operating such a terminal.
The present invention relates to and is usable in a modular dictating system of the type described generally in co-pending application Ser. No. 895,006, entitled "Modular Dictation/Transcription System", filed on Aug. 8, 1986; application Ser. No. 895,017, entitled "Programmable Telephone/Dictation Terminal and Method of Operating Same", filed Aug. 8, 1986; and application Ser. No. 895,010, entitled "Communications Network and Method", filed Aug. 8, 1986; said applications being assigned to the assignee of the present invention, the disclosures of said applications hereby being incorporated herein by reference.
Speakerphones are being utilized more and more in offices and elsewhere. However, many people are reluctant to talk to someone who is using a speakerphone. That is, the other's use of a speakerphone presents a psychological drawback to such people. For instance, such people may dislike the tone or pitch of the received audio signals, which may sound as if the speaker is located inside of a barrel. In addition, such people may object to the lack of privacy when the other party employs a speakerphone. In other words, such people may have a psychological impediment to freely communicating when they realize that they are speaking to more than one person.
Typically, a speakerphone mode is initiated by pressing a first key, e.g., a SPEAKER key, on a telephone terminal, and a mute mode is initiated by pressing a second key, e.g., a MUTE key, on the telephone terminal. However, with advances in technology, the telephone terminals are being offered with a greater number of features than in the past. These features are initiated by pressing a key or several keys on the telephone terminal. Accordingly, keyboards for telephone terminals are rapidly becoming complex as the number of required keys increases. A large number of keys on a keyboard may be bewildering to a user. Thus, a need exists to simplify telephone keyboards by using fewer keys.
Often, a transcriptionist will remove a headset in order to answer an incoming telephone call. Specifically, when the transcriptionist hears the telephone ringing, he or she will remove the headset for the dictating machine and pick up the receiver, or handset, of the telephone. Once the call is completed and the receiver is hung up, the transcriptionist must replace the headset. The removal and replacement of the headset are inconvenient. Moreover, the removal and replacement of the headset waste time. Accordingly, a need exists for a device and an associated method which permit a transcriptionist to easily answer an incoming telephone call without inconvenience or delay.